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Entity Hubs & Field user: How to combine Salesforce records without compromises

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Salesforce data can be approached differently by various field users and across teams. One of the options to quickly access relevant data is to use Entity Hubs* via the Resco Mobile application. You can create a variety of hubs that represent condensed units of information relevant for specific teams and even individual users.
Example: Your Salesforce records like Accounts, Contacts and Leads can represent one unit = Customers.
This way, each team or a user can work with a particular Entity Hub and have all vital information in one place.
As of the Winter 2018 release of Resco’s mobile solutions, you can place any Hub you create not just on a view (like the Home menu), but on a form, as well.

*entity = object

Group the records handily

Entity Hubs give user an ability to see associated records of different objects in one list, combining the records that have something in common. With hubs, you get a 360° overview of selected records related to a specific object. These records can represent Activities and/or current Processes.
Example: You can choose to see an overview of associated Activities, such as Contacts and Leads of an Account with their status (In/Active, and more…). Selected records, like Opportunities, Quotes, or Work orders can also represent Processes related to a given Account. You will be able to see their status, as well.
As you probably know, the out-of-the-box Salesforce mobile app has similar functionality for grouping Activities, but only with the Resco Mobile app you can create such combined views for virtually any object.
To perform field processes without limitations, Resco provides a way to merge not only standard, but also custom objects into a hub.

Enjoy an intuitive interface

A hub gathers vital information in one place, brings a more focused interface and introduces an app layout concentrated solely on required areas – without “clutter”.
A good example is a Field Inspector that can have a crystal clear look at chosen inspection activities and processes, that can be filtered further on. The app views and forms get more simplistic and streamlined look and feel. Compared to a dedicated list view for each of object, you are also saving a lot of screen space, which is crucial for users on small screen devices such as smartphones.

Start creating hubs & filter the views

When creating Entity Hubs with Resco, there is only one restriction you have to keep in mind: the entities merged into one hub need to have a common field type of a field that will affect the sorting of the view (e.g. for Accounts, Contacts and Leads the common field can be the Name. For activities, it can be the Due Date.
To filter the views of all of the hub’s records further on, there is an advanced feature, called Drill down. Drill down serves for specifying the associated or parent views that will be displayed when users expand the record in the view.
Example: For Accounts, you can show Associated Visits, Questionnaires and Cases (Service scenario) that you can filter. Users will see the latest communication with the Account = Company, its filled-in Questionnaires or related Visits within one view, without a need to switch to another one and search for the needed information.
You can also add a list of records of one object related to another object. If a user sets a view that has a filter, this filter will be applied, and only the records that fit the view filter will be shown.
Example: This way, for a record like Contact, you can display its parent Account and related Activities only.

*Note that you can also add more groups into one hub.

Your first hub – Tutorial

To create and manage Entity Hubs, you need to use Woodford – Resco’s customization tool.
In Woodford, select ‘Entity Hubs’ from the sidebar menu on the left.

When creating a new hub (or editing a default one), you need to specify the structure of Objects and its Views according to the data that will be displayed in the hub.

  • Add Group

You can have one or more Groups in a hub. Remember, the purpose of the Group is to have Objects of a similar type together. It allows users to filter the group sections in hub’s View more easily.

  • Add Merged

Here you can specify a Section, which will combine the Views and display resulting records. Only records from one Merged section can be displayed at once.

  • Add View

Add the Views to be used for the selected Merged section. You can choose to view My Accounts only and sort them by Name, Country, Owner and much more.

If you want your users to see associated records within one view, use Drill down. Select a preferred record and click “Add Drill Down”. Later, you can edit or delete it.

Here, we are adding associated Contacts that will be filtered by their name to an Account View. Hit Save & Close to be able to Publish an updated project.


Each newly created Entity Hub deserves its own Icon. How do we add one?

  • Add Icon

Simply pick Images from the Menu and Add a new one. Make sure to select “Home” from the picklist, since we are creating an icon that will be displayed in the main application menu. Choose Common Images’ Platform and for a better user experience XHDPI format of a picture.

In the end, you have to make sure that your hub “Customers” is a part of the Home menu. Go to the left side bar menu, select “Home” and simply drag & drop the object from the right to the left column. Save everything and hit Publish.

Once you synchronize the app, all the adjustments (hub & home icon) will be implemented and visible straight away within your Resco organization.

  • Place your Hub on a selected Form

Entity Hubs can be placed and fully utilized within a Form, as well. Every form contains fields that describe a specific record that the user can see or edit.
Imagine you could have all the required information entailed in one list – not just on your app home screen, but on any other view. Ability to add hubs to forms means having fields that describe a specific record that user can see or edit – all under one roof.
Example: When you display an Account on a full screen, all your recently updated Opportunities, Quotes and Cases will be shown as a part of the single list. This form can be edited right in the app.
In Woodford, select Default Form for an Account.

With two clicks, you will be able to add the Entity Hub of your preference to an Account. And that is it! The Customer field is now a part of every Account screen.
 

  • Lastly, add an Icon to a hub on a Form

Follow step 4. The process is the same when adding Icons to a Form. Only difference is that when adding an Image, you must select the “Tabs” folder instead of “Home”.

Before you Publish a project, make sure to add conditions to each object in your hub. This way, you will be able to display filtered customers belonging to a specific account only. Hub properties can be edited by clicking on an Account’s default form.


Here is how it looks in the app:

In general, a purpose of systems like Salesforce and Resco is to facilitate more efficient external communications and simplify company processes. Look beyond the CRM system and consider a holistic business approach to refine the way your team manages Salesforce data on the go – with Resco’s Entity Hubs.
Would you like to learn more about the overall possibilities of Resco’s mobile solutions for Salesforce? Check out our website or drop us a line at salesforce@resco.net.

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